What Is Matching and How Do I Use It

In order to effectively use purchase orders and to control payment of your purchase order invoices, we recommend becoming familiar with Matching.

Simply put, when you construct your purchase requisitions, you must think about how you intend to use and control those encumbered funds. You then decide, within certain guidelines established by the Purchasing Department, which Match Rule will apply to each of your purchase orders. You should check the appropriate match rule box on your requisition before sending it to Purchasing.

There are two types of Match Rules currently available:

The Two-Way Match

Two-way matches are used for recurring services (e.g. monthly pest control), for office supplies (except for grant-funded departments), for temporary services, and for the true definition of “open” purchase orders.

An example of a true open purchase order is a contracted service such as internet advertising, where the cost each month is fixed and the service is unlikely to change during the budget year. Your purchase order should be issued to cover all associated costs for a specific period of time ending no later than June 30 of each year.

No receiver is required to process payment against a two-way match purchase order. By assigning a two-way match to a purchase order, you give Accounts Payable the authorization to pay any invoices dated after the date of the purchase order up through the total amount of the purchase order.

When Accounts Payable receives an invoice for a two-way match purchase order they check to be sure there are sufficient funds in your purchase order to pay the invoice and that the purchase took place subsequent to the issue date of the purchase order. If so, the invoice is paid.

The Three-Way Match

In a three-way match, the payment is controlled by the use of a receiving document, which is your authorization to pay. The receiving document says you have received and checked the item(s) ordered and that you authorize payment.

When Accounts Payable receives an invoice for a three-way match purchase order, they first check the system to see if a receiver has been input. If they don’t find one, they email you a copy of the invoice along with a request for a receiver. Until you submit a receiver to your Site Receiving office, Accounts Payable will be unable to pay the vendor. If you receive a request from Accounts Payable but you have not received what you ordered, you should NOT submit a receiver, but you should let Accounts Payable know the reason why.

HELPFUL HINTS ABOUT RECEIVER PREPARATION:

Site Receiving will prepare and input receivers for three-way purchase orders for goods as the goods arrive. The package(s) will be delivered to you and you will be asked to sign a Site Receiving log to acknowledge delivery. Site Receiving will provide you with the packing slip and the receiver number.

If Site Receiving is unable to enter the receivers due to the nature of the shipment or to a system description on the purchase order such as “see attached,” they will provide you with a receiving report form partially completed – it will contain the purchase order number, the date received, and the vendor name. It is your responsibility to complete the receiver in its entirety and return it back to your Site Receiving office.

It is your responsibility to prepare receivers for three-way match purchase orders for services, as Site Receiving would have no means of knowing if the services had been provided. It is also your responsibility to prepare a receiver when an item is picked up by you or delivered directly to you by the vendor – bypassing Site Receiving.

Receivers are sent to your Site Receiving office, not to Accounts Payable.

Never prepare a receiver in advance of receipt of goods and/or services, remembering that the receiver provides your authorization to pay in a three-way match purchase order situation.

Never attach an original invoice to a receiver, as the receiver goes to Site Receiving and the invoice goes to Accounts Payable.

You are required to keep and maintain files containing packing slips and other supporting documentation. Therefore, you should not discard packing slips/receipts for two-way match purchase orders simply because no receiver is required.

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